I would say this even if I weren’t married to the author: The Moment of Lift is a terrific read.

It is a wise, honest, and beautifully written book about how empowering women lifts up everyone. (None of that will be surprising to anyone who knows Melinda.) Although it took her about a year to write, in a way she has been working on it her whole life. The Moment of Lift is about the women who have inspired Melinda, starting with her own mother, through her colleagues at Microsoft, and continuing today with the amazing scientists, farmers, educators, and leaders she meets through her work with our foundation.

Melinda opens up about her personal journey from private citizen to public advocate. You see how she pushed our foundation to focus more on women’s empowerment. She shares insights about our marriage, the path we took to become equals in our work, and how she has helped me grow as a father and husband.

But to me, what is really impressive about the book is the way Melinda combines her mastery of data with her ability to tell powerful stories about individual women she has met. In an especially memorable passage about how she handles seeing people in desperate circumstances, she writes: “All of us have to let our hearts break; it’s the price of being present to someone who is suffering.” Your heart will break more than once when you read this book. But more often, you will be enlightened and inspired.

In this free excerpt, Melinda writes about her final conversation with our friend Hans Rosling, a touching discussion about why it is so important to help mothers protect their children.

I encourage you to pre-order the book now. Melinda will donate all the amounts she receives from this book to charity.

Melinda is the most important person in my life: an amazing wife, mother, partner, and friend (and now accomplished author!). I am lucky that she has shared these insights with me for all these years, and delighted that she is now sharing them with the rest of the world too.